Jonathan1Robinson

Youngest son of William and Elizabeth. Twin brother of Samuel.
Married Ruth Morse of Groton, Massachusetts in 1706.

Jonathan Robinson, the youngest child of "William Robison of Newton," was born April 20, 1682. His father's will, made upon his death bed, dated March 22, 1693, bequeathed all his estate to "my dafter, Elizabeth Robinson," with the provision that my two children, David, "fifteen years old, lame and helpless," and Jonathan, shall have their maintenance and be carefully brought up by my dafter. The father's heart went out tenderly to his helpless child, and to his dearly-loved youngest boy, left in the world without a parent's care. Jonathan must have continued to live with his sister until May 16, 1698, when, according to the record made in the Middlesex (Mass.) Probate records, "Jonathan Robinson, a minor of 16 years, made choice of Nath'll Sparrowhawk to be his guardian and he accepted." We find from the records that Jonathan Robinson was a weaver. We know also that Isaac Williams, his mother's uncle and a man of means and influence, lived on the farm adjoining that of his father and he, by trade, was a weaver. We can infer that Jonathan learned his trade from his uncle. He must have been industrious, energetic and saving, for he both married and purchased his farm in Lexington at the early age of twenty-four.

The wife of Jonathan Robinson was Ruth Morse, a few words regarding whom must be of interest to her descendants. She was born April 15, 1684, and was the daughter of Jonathan Morse, born Nov. 16, 1643, who married Oct. 17, 1678, Abigail Shattuck.* Jonathan Morse was the fourth son of Joseph Morse, who, when he was twenty-four years of age, embarked at Ipswich, England, April, 1634, in the ship "Elizabeth," William Andrews master. Joseph

•History of Watertown, Henry Bond, p. 371 (Genealogies).31
Morse was one of the original proprietors of Watertown. His name is on the earliest list of proprietors, and he was admitted freeman May 6, 1635. His father and mother, Joseph and Deborah Morse, came to America probably a year or two later than their son and settled at Watertown. Joseph Morse died March 4, 1691, and his estate was administered by his son John. It was from this substantial and respected family that Jonathan Robinson married his wife of twenty-two years, June 19, 1706.
Jonathan at once proceeded to make a suitable home for his young wife and purchased a farm in Cambridge Farms (now Lexington), which is still in the possession of his descendants. *The deed is dated Oct. n, 1706. Hudson in his History of Lexington, p. 203, says: "It appears by a deed in possession of the family, that Isaac Powers, of Cambridge, sold to Jonathan Robinson, of Cambridge, weaver, in 1706, a lot of land at Cambridge Farms, bounded northerly by Concord road, easterly by land of Joanna Winship, southerly by land of John Dickson, and westerly by land of Jonathan Robinson, bounded by the Winships, Whitmores and Bowmans, leaves no doubt but that he resided on or near the place now occupied by Mr. Jonas Gammell, at the termination of Oak Street."
Cambridge Farms was a portion of Cambridge. Lexington was then included in it, and this part of the town appears to have been regarded as the wood-lots and hay fields of Cambridge. Lexington was set aside and was organized into a town March 31, 1713, a few years after Jonathan Robinson settled there.
From the reference in Hudson to "other deeds" it is probable that Jonathan Robinson accumulated some property and it is also probable that the house that Jonathan originally built had been replaced by the ample, well-built structure that stood on the hill seventy years later at the time of the Revolution.
The present possessor of the old farm homestead at Lexington, Mass., is Mr. Joseph Franklin Gammell, the only child of Franklin Gammell, and the grandson of Rhoda Robinson, so that this farm has been in the possession of Jonathan Robinson's descendants nearly two hundred years. In
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The Site Of The Robinson Homestead On Top Of The Hill At Lexington, Mass. As viewed by two of the grandchildren of Ebenezer Robinson August 2, 1902. George O. Robinson of Detroit, Mich., and Mrs. Alden Speare of Newton, Mass.

August, 1902, the writer, in company with two grandchildren of Ebenezer Robinson (viz., Mrs. Alden Speare, of Newton Centre, Mass., and Mr. George O. Robinson, of Detroit, Mich.), visited the site of the old house. Mrs. Speare said: "I visited here often in my girlhood days and I well remember the old place. It must have been a fine house at the time it was built, and was kept in good repair until it was burned. The walls of some of the rooms were originally pannelled, so that one not familiar with the house could not tell where were the cupboards.
At the time the British soldiers came to Lexington this house was raided, and a mark or dent was made on one of these panels where a soldier had struck it with his gun to see if there was a cupboard behind it. In modernizing the finish of this room that panel was preserved as a relic."
Mr. George O. Robinson said: "I well remember talking with my grandfather, Ebenezer Robinson, about the early

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The Lane Down Which Young Ebenezer Robinson Ran To Watch The British Soldiers Retreat From Lexington Battlefield.

days of the Revolutionary war, and his telling me that as a boy he heard the guns of the Battle of Lexington, and he used to describe how he ran down the lane leading from the farm house to Main street, to see the British soldiers retreating on the turnpike road to Boston."
The Robinson house was located on a hill, reached by a lane (the lower part of which is now known as Oak street in East Lexington), climbing upward from Main street. The site commands a pleasant view of the surrounding country. The house and all the adjoining buildings were burned in March, 1886, and the cellar, only partially filled in, marks its site. Doubtless many records that would have added much to this sketch perished with the place, as Mr. J. Franklin Gammell, the owner, states that the only valuable paper he possesses is the old deed of the farm dated Oct. n, 1706.
Hudson states that Jonathan Robinson filled the honorable office of Tythingman in 1735, and in 1744 was on a committee "to dignify and seat the meeting house." He died in 1753 and his wife Ruth followed him April 25. 1759. His will, dated Feb. 2, 1748, was proved Feb. 18, 1758.
The children of Jonathan and Ruth were as follows:
Jonathan, b. July 25, 1707. (See below.)
Ruth, b. June 29, 1709; d. Oct. 23, 1722.
Abigail, b. Feb. 4, 1711; baptized June 24, 1711; m. Nathaniel Bacon, of Lexington.
James, b. Aug. 30, 1715; bap. Sept. 4. (See below.)
Lydia, b. Aug. 29, 1718; bap. Sept. 7; ra. Caleb Simonds
Hannah, b. Jan. 8, 1721; bap. Jan. 14; d. Oct. 24. 1721.

SONS OF JONATHAN ROBINSON.
In all the histories and books on geneology that I have consulted, it seems to be the practice to follow the history of the sons who bear the family name. The history of the daughters is merged into that of their husbands, so that there is little to be learned concerning them. Following this procedure let us learn what we can concerning the two sons of Jonathan Robinson, Jonathan, Jr., and James. Jonathan, the elder son, will chiefly be remembered as being the great grandfather of Gov. George D. Robinson of Massachusetts. The line of descent is as follows:
Jonathan Robinson, b. July 25, 1707; d. 1748; m. Elizabeth.
Children: Elizabeth, m. June. 20, 1732.
Jacob, b. Feb. 3, 1739.
Jonathan, b. Sept. 29, 1733.
Submit, bap. July 17, 1743.
Of these we will follow the line only of Jacob, the oldest son, who married Elizabeth Draper. They were added to the church March 21, 1775.
Children•• Jacob, b. Oct. 28, 1762; d. Sept. 12,
Elizabeth, b. March 6, 1765; d. Dec. 29, 1767.
Jesse, b. July 14, 1767; m. Rebecca Tidd.
Jonathan, b. June 20, 1769, was twice married.
Betty, b. Feb. 26, 1772; m. White, of Watertown.
Anna, b. June 28, 1774; m. Gardner, of Cambridge.
Nathan, b. Dec. 1, 1776; d. Sept. 22, 1776.

A Historical Sketch of the Robinson Family of the Line of Ebenezer Robinson, a Soldier of the Revolution
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